Page 10 of Promise Keeper

She tsk'ed and gave me the same exact expression Ben used when he's equal parts annoyed, frustrated, and irritated with me. And here I thought he'd come by it all on his own when it was passed down through the family. Poor Stewart, but at least I had someone to commiserate with aboutthe look.

"I'll inform Mia of the specifics," she said. "She won't disappoint me."

Her passive aggressive jab didn't affect me like she'd hoped. "Okay, sounds like a plan, Irene. I'm going to get moving."

"Where do you have to be in such a rush?"

"Didn't you hear? I found another body. A skeleton, actually. It was in the trash can beside the gazebo."

"Is that what Johnna was chattering about? I thought she was going on about something she'd watched on television."

"No, it's real. So you don't know anything about it?"

"What would I know? Do you thinkIput it there? That I keep a collection of human bones in my basement for such occasions as your trip to the park?"

"Just asking around," I said. I'd learned to adopt the mantra ofBe The Duckwhere Irene was concerned and let her comments roll off me like water off a duck's back. "Welp! Let me know if you do hear anything. I'll see you later."

I headed out of the kitchen just as Mia hopped up off the couch. "Steph's here! Bye! Bye, Grandma!"

"Goodbye, dear!" Irene trilled from the kitchen.

"Have fun," I told her, following her out the door.

I got in my car--a new one to me, but eight-years-old with mega miles on it--and headed toward home following Steph. She wound around the allotment a different way then I'd come in, and I noticed there were dump trucks and a backhoe on a trailer practically blocking the street in front of Jim and Fiona's house. Their side yard was a muddy mess from all the heavy machinery and trucks driving over it. I could only imagine what their backyard looked like all dug up. Putting in an in-ground pool was a big project. Not only expensive, but there were gas and electric lines to deal with and a fence to have installed around it. I didn't realize Jim and Fiona liked to swim that much.

Still behind Steph, I drove left of center to get around the vehicles in the road, and honked when they turned right on route fifty-two and I turned left. Mia had a calorie avoidance issue, so I knew she wouldn't have as good of a time at the movie as I would've had with popcorn and peanut M&M's. How can anyone sit through a movie without snacks?

That was one of life's biggest mysteries.

5

When I got home, I checked my text messages. Logan and Anna had sent one to our group chat saying they talked with everyone at the Soda Pop Shop and then went next-door to Read and Re-Read and asked Brenda Lefferts if she had any information, and they came up empty handed.

I'd stop in to see Brenda tomorrow. She had a mystery novel put aside for me.

I texted back saying that I didn't have any luck either, and going by what Irene said, Johnna made the situation sound like a reality TV show at their meeting. Maybe Roy would dig up some dirt at the Cornerstone tonight. Our best bet at this point was to wait for the coroner and the forensic anthropologist to gather more information about the bones.

And to think of ways to wheedle that information out of Ben.

I let Liam outside and wandered around my backyard with him looking at the flowers poking through the dark soil. There were still some dead leaves gathered in corners and tucked in behind the birdbath, but the green buds on the bushes and trees and the clean, fresh scent on the air was enough to make me forget about the skeleton, but not quite.

I paced around the end of the garage thinking of reasons why someone would have a human skeleton and then dispose of it in such a public way. I suppose it wouldn't have been public if I hadn't have found it. Whoever dumped it didn't want it tied back to them, which meant there were nefarious circumstances linked to that body other than the way it was tossed in the trash.

The person could've been murdered, that was the obvious possibility, but likely not by anyone living today unless they were at least a century old and some change. So why would someone living today want to hide a murder from the past? All I could think of was that their reputation was at stake. People would think badly of them and their family if they knew.

I stopped in my tracks. The most family-proud group of women I'd ever met were The Daughters of Historical Metamora. They introduced themselves with their founding father's names for Pete's sake.

Good gravy! One of them was in the process of digging up her back yard! Did Fiona and Jim stumble on the body while putting in their pool? How could they keep that a secret? It made sense, though. Reputation was everything to Fiona, and she'd already taken a hit when her cousin was murdered and it was revealed that he ran an illegal dog racing syndicate from his farm.

I took out my phone and sent another text to our group letting them know I had something we needed to look into.

Tomorrow when I was picking up my book from Brenda, I'd do a little more research on Fiona's family and their background. With any luck, it'll set us in the right direction to find out what happened to the man who ended up on the wrong end of a raccoon's curiosity.

Speaking of raccoons, I needed to find out where they were getting into my attic and block it off. Those little buggers could do damage to wiring, not to mention the mess they leave behind.

I opened the door into the side of the garage. There was a really big ladder in there somewhere that I could use to reach the vent over the attic window. I was sure that's where they were getting in, and wanted to check it out.

The ladder hung horizontally from hooks on the wall just above my head. I knew it would be heavy, but if I braced myself, I could push it up off the hooks and hopefully lower it to the floor without incident.

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